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PRESTON BUS HISTORY Preston Bus is very much deep routed in Preston and the local community. We provide a network of high frequency bus services using our fleet of 120 vehicles around the Lancashire City of Preston. For timetable information select the one you want from the “service” link or to find the service number just look at our “area map” link which has all the service numbers shown on it. Similar links are provided giving details of our various ticketing options.
Preston Bus was formed as a company in 1986 to take over Preston Borough Council's Transport Department. The origins of the Company can be traced back to 1879 when horse trams were introduced by the Preston Tramway Company under the sanctions of Preston Corporation. In 1904 the arrangement changed when Preston Corporation introduced its own electric trams. They ran out of a new depot built in Deepdale Road. Even today we still use the same buildings although many changes have been made to it over the years. The last tram was withdrawn as long back as 1935. Since then several generations of buses have come and gone.
In 1993 Preston Borough Council sold the Company to its employees. Preston Bus therefore remains locally based, locally owned and fully committed to serving the people of Preston. These arrangements have continued to this day with most of our staff being shareholders. While many other operators became employee owned in the late 80s and early 90s, Preston Bus is not only the only one that remains, it’s clearly the only one that has made this form of ownership work so successfully for all. We have no outside shareholders and all of our profits are invested back into the business rather than paying dividends to faceless shareholders. Preston Bus is now one of the largest locally owned Companies in the City and with having some 300 staff most people in our City will know somebody from our team.
All 14 of the main services we provide in Preston and South Ribble operate on frequencies that have buses at least every 15 minutes. Half of these operate at least every 7 or 8 minutes. They all operate from the Bus Station with the new Orbit route providing links around the key travel locations around our City.
The days of having to pay cash for every journey travelled on our buses have long gone. While that option still remains, most customers now take advantage of the many alternative schemes we offer for individuals, group travel, employers and for the “over 60s and disabled holders of Nowcards. The option of using Smartcards will soon provide attractive flexible arrangements for our customers. Our range of special tickets, Easi Day, Week & Month tickets and the New Family and Friends Returns, are designed to be convenient as well as to save money for our customers.
Nearly all of our regular services are now operated by easy access buses designed to assist disabled users as well as those with shopping and young children. We now have 20 low floor easy access double-decker buses in the fleet as well as 12 new large single deckers and 46 mini buses. These buses have been part of a major investment that Preston Bus is making to improve the quality of the service provided. The new buses are normally used on the Tanterton, Hospital, Orbit, Gamull Lane and Farringdon Park super routes and have been well received by the customers.
We aim to provide a quality service which is reliable. All of our buses are fitted with an advanced GPS location and radio system which assists us to regulate our services when traffic in Preston creates problems. Security is also important for our customers and our staff. While we experience very few problems, we have fitted all of our front line buses with an advanced CCTV system to give that added “feel good factor”.
At Preston Bus we believe that a partnership approach is the way to deliver services to our customers. By working with our customers, the City and the County Council as well as business and other providers of services in our City we have developed a close working arrangement which is delivering for us all a success story. The success of the partnership approach is clearly demonstrated by the many schemes that have been developed in Preston. We have in our City:
We provide a full maintenance facility keeping all types of vehicles on the road. We can look after one car or a fleet of vehicles ranging from cars up to specialised heavy goods vehicles. For further information call Bob David on 01772 253671, Fax 01772 490813 or e-mail him on bob.david@prestonbus.co.uk. We have an MOT testing station authorised for class 4 vehicles. Call us on 01772 253671 for details. We can even offer the services of our experienced team who renovate historical buses.
No business can succeed without having a good team of staff. Preston Bus has over 10% of its staff with over 25 years service, a loyal, committed and well trained workforce based both at the Bus Station and at our depot in Deepdale Road. |
The History of Preston Bus
Today’s Services
Quality and Reliability Count